Rail track heater



12, 1952 w. H. GREENFIELD 2,585,648

RAIL TRACK HEATER Filed NOV. 2, 1948 VXMLM attorney Patented Febc 12,1952 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICES I 7 2,585,648 I V RAIL TRACK HEATERWalter H. Greenfield, Philadelphia, Pa. Application November 2, 1948,Serial No. 57,871

. v1 The object of this invention is to devise a novel rail track,heater having a novel construction and arrangement of a burner which iseflicient in operation and by the use. of which ignition is maintained.

A further object of the invention is to devise 2 Claims. (Cl. 158-94) Aforaminated combustion chamber forming member I is preferablycone-shaped, and is positioned on the bottom of the casing 5 to surroundthe wick. Supported on the member is a lower baflie plate 8 apertured tofit on the burner and be spaced thereby a desired distance above thenovel means for bafliing the air admitted under 4 comprehends a novelrail track heater.

It further comprehends a novel construction 1.

and arrangement of a burner.

For the purposeof illustrating the invention, I have shown in theaccompanying drawings a preferred embodiment of it which I have found inpractice to give satisfactory and reliable results. It is, however, tobe understood that the various instrumentalities of which the inventionconsists can be variously arranged and organized, and the invention isnot limited to the exact arrangement and organization of theseinstrumentalities as herein shown.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a rail track heater, embodying myinvention.

Figure 2 is a section on line 22 of Figure 4.

Figure 3 is an exploded view of component parts of the burner.

Figure 4 is a section on line 4-4-of Figure 1.

Figure 5 is a sectional elevation of another embodiment of theinvention.

Similar numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts.

Referring to the drawings:

The rail track heater has a tank I which is preferably of rectangularformation and formed from sheet metal. The tank has a conventional,controllable filling opening 2. The tank has at its forward end aforwardly and upwardly.

extending spout 3 which is in open communication with the interior ofthe tank near the bottom of the tank. A wick 4 extends through the Ispout and into the tank for a desired distance.

'ing air opening 9.

bottom of the burner casing, and at opposite locations it is cut away toform with the burner cas- Also supported on themember T is an upperbaffle plate [0 which is apertured to receive the combustion chamberforming member and is spaced from the lower bafile plate 8 and from thetop of the burner casing.

A flame extinguisher H is adapted to be moved over the top of the burnercasing and has opposite side portions defiected downwardly and slottedas at l2 to receive fastening devices l3 secured to the casing. Theextinguisher has a grasping handle I4. The tank I has a carrying handlel5. v

The bottom of the burner casing 5 has air intakes l6 and theseopeningsare positioned at opposite sides and are preferably provided withregulating valves H in threaded engagement with brackets welded to theburner casing and shown at 18. These valves are shown as having taperedends to enter the openings I6 In Figure 5, I have shown anotherembodiment of the invention wherein a burner casing is round as shown atl9, it being apparent that the casing may have any desired contour intransverse section. A baffle 20 has'a close fit in the burner casingbeneath its top, and superimposed combus tion chamber forming baflies 2!have a clearance with the inner wall of the casing. These baflles areretained in spaced relationship by a spacing device 22 consisting ofrods extending through the baflles and swaged over the juxtaposedbaflles. The bafiles are in the form of washers and while their centralopenings may be the same in diameter I have preferred to show them asdecreasing in diameter from bottom to top since such construction hasbeen found to give excellent results.

In the embodiments of the invention as herein shown, the burner isdesigned to vaporize the fuel and automatically mix with it the properamount of air to obtain complete combustion of the fuel, therebyobtaining a greater heat conduction to the rail and a minimum of carbon.

The air passes in a lateral direction and substantially at right anglesto the path of the flame in both of the embodiments of the inventionherein shown.

In Figure 4 the air enters the intake openings I6, passes laterallythrough the bottom openings in the burner 1, passes upwardly throughopenings 9 in the bafile 8, is prevented by the upper baffle ID frompassing upwardly, and passes laterally to the openings in the burnerbetween the baffies 8 and II].

In Figure 5, I employ a plurality of superimposed baffles, and the airpasses from the intake op nin s 6, of the cas n laterally beneat thefirst bafile 2| to the path of the flame, and also upwardly between thebattles 2| and the inner wall of the casing and then laterally betweenjuxtaposed battles to the path of the flame of the burner.

It has been found in practice that b bafiling the air passage as hereinshown, abetter combustion is obtained and the burner does not blow outbut is continuously ignited.

Having thus described my invention, whatl claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a rail track heater, a burner casingrhaving in its'bottom a wickreceiving opening and air intake openings, a wick in the wick receivingopening, a fuel supply for the wick, a lower bafile within the casingabove the intake openings comprising a transversely extending flat platehaving a clearance with the inner surface of the casing wall and havinga central opening axially aligned with the opening receiving thewick,zan upper baffle comprising a transversely extending flat platehaving a close fit in the upper portion of the casing and havingacentral opening axially aligned with said lower baffle opening and said4 prising a transversely extending flat plate having a central opening,a burner casing having a wick receiving opening and air intake openings,a wick in the Wick receiving opening, a fuel supply for the wick, thelowermost bafile being spaced from the bottom of the casing above theintake openings and having clearance at opposite sides with the innersurface of the casing wall, and the top bafile having a ,close fit inthe upper portion of the casing below the upper end thereof, saidbafiles'having openings axially aligned with the bottom wick receivingopening, and pervious wall means having clearance with the inner surfaceof the casing wall and forming a combustion chamber registering with theopenings in said'bafiles. WALTER H. GREENFIELD.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 492,440 Skaggs Feb. 28, 1893607,136 Rosenstar July 12, 1-898 1,068,533 Sallander July 29, 19:131,341,494 Closs May 25, 1920 1,911,509 Hoffer May 30., 193.3 2,055,839Greenfield Sept. 29, 1936 2,094,069 Hill ,Sept. 28, 19 3 2,121,903Currie June 28, 1938 2,271,076 Hupfer Jan. 27, 1942 2,297,059 HegemanSept. 29, 1942 2,415,131 Greenfield Febu l, 194.7 2,441,242 Harkins May:11, 1948 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 280,070 Great Britain,Nov. 1-0, 19277

